Think before advertising on social media

Irrespective of their size, each and every company is dipping their toe in social media. Companies are using these tools in 360º manner. But the real question is how effectively this marketing tool works? It is rightly said that if things are used in the right way it can be a blessing otherwise chances of your falling into the pit are bright.

Various studies show that use of such social media platforms carry several disadvantages and it is difficult to measure the true value.

Keeping pace with latest technologies, updating it regularly, monitoring and responding daily to user comments, all of them create huge fuss among the business owners.

1.Diverse Platforms- If you take the first step wrong then it can affect your success. Today there are so many social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Sometimes it becomes difficult for the company to identify which one will be beneficial for them as one can't cater to all their target customer from one platform. For example, from Facebook one can target audience from the age group of 16 to 25 years whereas LinkedIn is more suited for professionals. So the companies who want to cater both the segments have to use various platforms.

 The industry says:

"Social media is a very strong platform for us to directly interact with end customers. A strong presence on social platforms helps to build brand visibility and serves as a strong engagement platform. However, it is important to judge the reach of each platform, as well as understand the consumer attitude towards each platform. Different brands have different requirements and expectations from various social media platforms and it is best to maximize engagement on the platform that seems to benefit the brand the most. This does not mean that a brand needs to ignore other platforms completely but the ROI with respect to social media platforms is usually better if the platforms have been chosen properly and are managed wisely" says Subroto Das, Director - India & South Asia, WD.

2. Hidden Cost- Initially the investment is low but a lot of hidden cost is attached to it. A successful business campaign is one which has lots of interaction with customers. But it can only be done if there are regular updates, prompt reply to customer query. For all this a person or group of persons are required who not only respond to customer query immediately but also have adequate knowledge about the use of such platforms.

The industry believes:

"Effectiveness of advertising has been a guessing game, it is dependent on many factors and has been notoriously immune to objective testing. Social media offers some answers. Social media channels allows cost effective dissemination of advertising to a large audience if the content goes viral, and reliable assessment of the same even when it does not. Beyond that, an intelligent analysis of social media data can allow marketers to know their audience better, know their preferences, tastes and attitudes. With the power of social analytics, advertisers can create targeted advertising which can be highly effective " says Manish Godha, CEO & Founder, Advaiya

3. Reputation at stake - Social Media platforms can bring reputation of your company at stake with negative comments/feedbacks. Sometimes your customer is not satisfied with your services, so today they have a right to indulge in negative publicity. So this may create negativity among your other customers also.

According to the experts:

"Critics of social media engagement strategy say that social media can be used to say bad things about the company. However, the truth is, people are going to say negative things about your company anyway. Having a well thought of social media engagement strategy help businesses to react quickly to customers who are disenchanted with company's product or service. An apology upfront and an offer to call back the customer is a winning one-two combination to winning back the customer's confidence and respect." says Teena Minhas, Assistant Manager, Knowlarity Communications.

4. Misleading results - Still there is lot of confusion among companies that how to measure results from social media platforms. Factors like "Followers" on Twitter or " Like" on Facebook doesn't give a clear picture on its benefits. It is difficult to find out how many target consumers have been converted into real buyer.

 Industry opines:

"From being an art, social media marketing has rapidly evolved into a science. From the standpoint of effectiveness, there are many factors that need to be considered to find the right platform. Though for B2B service providers, a platform like LinkedIn is more valuable, presence on Facebook cannot be ignored in 2014. It is wise to dip toes in social media only after developing a clear understanding. The problems of bad reviews can be mitigated by openly answering queries on social media and provide adequate redressal in full view of the entire social media community." says Yogesh Agarwal, President, Applane